Singers
by Indipindy
Summary: There are 2 rising cover artists on YT- Izaya Orihara and Shizuo Hewajima- and when Shizuo loses a bet with Shinra, they now have to sing a love song. Wonder how that'll turn out, hmm ?
1. PROLOGUE

PROLOGUE

"Welcome to TalkJapan, I'm Aira Takumi our host! Our first story today: Two young men, Izaya Orihara and Shizuo Hewajima, have become extremely popular on social media for singing duets! In the studio today we have Izaya Orihara. Hello Orihara-kun, welcome to the studio!"

The bubbly talk-show presenter turned to Izaya, her caramel hair bouncing as she did so. Izaya had a show-stopping grin on his face.

"Hello, Aira-san! It's a pleasure to be here! You can call me by my first name if you want." He winked at the camera, most likely making many women swoon in from of their TVs.

"So Izaya-kun, is it true that you and Hewajima-kun actually hate each other in real life despite having sung many duets?"

"Getting right down to business, eh~? Yeah, it's true. For some reason, whenever we meet we end up feeling fighting. I think Shizu-chan has said before that it because of my smirk, but I think he just hates my guts." Izaya grinned heartily.

"If that's so, how do you two ever complete your duets?" The talk-show host was intrigued, and rightly so.

"Well, me and Shizu-chan have two mutual friends, Shinra Kishitani and Celty Sturleson. Shinra delegates the parts and plays the instrumentals, before he gives then to Celty, his girlfriend, and she brings a copy to each of us. We never even meet in person."

"So this Kishitani-kun must play a lot of instruments to do all the instrumentals!"

"Yep. He's a musician but he isn't very popular, sadly. So all the viewers should go and see him on YouTube- he has great music and he's currently in the middle of writing an original song for me and Shizu-chan to see! Isn't that great?"

"Wow! Can you tell us anything about this song?"

"Well, let's just say it's a love song. Oh, look at the time! I've got to rehearse the latest cover- it'll be on YouTube on Friday, so subscribe to mine and Shizu-chan's channels to get notifications of all new covers!"

The talk show ended and it was just adverts. Shizuo turned of the TV. He got out his phone and dialled. Izaya picked up.

"IIIZZAAAAYAAAAAAA!"


	2. Chapter 1: Daddy, I Got Cider In My Ear

1: Daddy, I Got Cider In My Ear

(N/A: If you get the title of this chapter, your parents subjected you to a very funny film. Just google it or something if you don't get it. On with the chapter!)

"Shizu-chan, do you want proof that you lost the bet? It's in you videos. You can go check it out~!"

"Shut your face, flea! Why are you happy about this?!"

"Because I get to see your face when you look at the lines Shinra's written! They're saucy, aren't they, Shinra?" The raven-head's red gaze fell upon the brunette with glasses fiddling about with a guitar in the corner of the room.

"They're not, sadly. You know you guys, you reeally didn't have to come. Celty could've brought the lines for the cover over to you."

"We're not talking about the cover! We're talking about the song!" Shizuo growled.

"Which has to be a love song!" Izaya grinned when Shizuo blushed fiercely and looked away.

"It's not saucy or anything. It's just like the usual songs, you're just singing it like you're in love with each other. It shouldn't be too hard-" Shinra was interrupted by the form of Erika appearing outside the window.

"-since you already do!" She cried, a sweeping grin like a Cheshire cat's covering her face from ear to ear. But they gravity happened and Erika stopped floating. They rushed to the window and opened it.

There was an extremely large trampoline on the pavement right next the apartment block, seemingly the way Erika had gotten up there. Walker was beside in cheering her on, along with Togasa who looked quite worried for Erika's safety, and Dotachin who was glaring dissaprovingly at everyone else.

"Y'know Erika, I don't punch girls normally, but for you I could make an exception!" Shizuo shouted. Erika just smiled smugly as she bounced back up, this time going just a little lower than the window.

"You'll be the seme then! Though then again I can't imagine Izaya as a normal uke, so he'd be the type of cheeky tsundere-like uke!" She giggled.

"I would never be a uke, Erika! Don't be fooled, Shizu-chan would always be the uke if we were to have a relationship!" Izaya cried, mocking hurt.

"IIIZAAAAAYAAAAAAAAA!"

"You two, cut it out! I'm trying to write a song here!" Shinra cried, pulling the two brawling singers apart, with sound of Erika giggling to in the background.

"And whose fault is that?!" Shizuo growled, pouting.

"Yours! You lost the bet!" Izaya smiled smugly, crossing his arms.

"I was drunk, flea!"

"Still counts~!" And with that, Izaya skipped away.

Suddenly there was the sound of Erika clambering in through the window. She looked inquisitively curious.

"What exactly did you bet on? How did you, lose, Shizuo?" She asked.

"Well..." Shinra began,

[FLASHBACK]

"I'm bored."

"Well, Shizuo, you aren't helping me one bit, so why don't you go to a bar or something. No offence, dude, I just need to concentrate." Tom went back to skyping Namie as he edited Shizuo's part of the duet they'd just recorded. It was a mix between Lights and Ghost.

(Izaya sang the lyrics in Lights, and Shizuo sang the Ghost ones. Shinra had done the music, and Simon had mixed them together- he was a DJ at a local night club run by fellow Russians. Now Namie and Tom were editing it so that there was a good video- They had decided to do it like a vocaloid, and Walker had no trouble drawing art for it. He was an otaku with an art channel on YouTube, too. Also, Erika had an anime review and react channel.)

"Fine, call me when it's on YouTube so I can share it on some random social media..." Shizuo grumbled.

"Sharing it on social media and being kind to your fans is important, Shizuo. I know you don't like him, but just look at Izaya's Twitter page!" He tabbed out of the video editing software and onto Chrome, where Izaya's Twitter page was open. He began to read out some tweets.

"' izayaorihara: Hi my fabulous fans! Are you feeling down today? Cheer up by listening to me and shizuohewajima in our cover of Happy! link' He says really nice and supportive stuff! Let's look at one of your tweets-

' shizuohewajima: Yo, look, me and the flea ( izayaorihara ) made a cover of Happy. link' That... To put it lightly, Shizuo, you need to be... More connected to your audience, you could say..." Tom cringed when Shizuo glared at him.

"IM GOING OUT." He said loudly, but not shouting. He picked up a packet of cigarettes and was gone.

"Man, what a jerk!" Name's voice said over Skype.

Meanwhile, at a nearby bar...

"Only one drink." Shizuo got drunk easily, and he didn't want to be even more 'disconnected to his audience' when he shared the next video. He would show Tom! He could be great at tweeting!

Suddenly the door to the bar swung open and in walked Izaya Orihara, looking very bored. He saw Shizuo and grinned. He sat across on the other side of the bar where Shizuo couldn't see him. He whispered something to the bartender and passed some money under the table. The man nodded and went over to Shizuo.

"I'd just like a water now." Shizuo told him. The man nodded and went off to get one, taking Shizuo's glass away. He came back quickly with a new one, full, and was gone just as quickly. Shizuo eyed him suspiciously, but drank the drink all the same. He couldn't help but feel that something was off with it, though...

He quickly became lightheaded and realised he was drunk, and the man still hadn't returned, and the drink was now empty.

He glanced across the bar and his eyes widened when they met the red ones he hated. There was Izaya, smirking his awful, smug, grin.

"What'd you get him to do to my drink?!" Shizuo growled, eyes narrowing.

"I just gave you a very high amount of alcohol, that's all. I should expect a tough man like yourself to be able to hold his liquor, ne~?"

"You-" He leaped forward to punch Izaya in the face, but Izaya stopped him.

"Now, now, Shizu-chan, is that any way to treat a fellow singer? I just want to make a little bet!"

"What?" Shizuo paused long enough for Izaya to turn the tables and have a knife at his throat. The only people in the bar were drunkards who likely would forget it in the morning, so what was the point in hiding their secret weapons?

"If I get more retweets on my Twitter post about the next cover than you, you have to do an original song with me, the theme of which will be love, and Shinra will write it."

"And if I win?" Shizuo asked, hesitant.

"Then you can have Shinra write a song the theme of which you choose that we have to sing, and you can choose who gets which parts." Shizuo's eyes widened. He would love to see the raven-head have to sing embarrassing lyrics. It would give him the payback of a lifetime.

"Deal." He said.

"Well then, to seal it~" Shizuo suddenly felt Izaya's lips on his hand. The singer looked up at him and grinned. Then he was gone.

"IZAYA!" Shizuo shouted after him, but he was long gone. He sighed. Well, so much for seeing his face when he WON by a landslide. He may sound optimistic, but hey, he was drunk.

[END OF FLASHBACK]

"So I guess Shizuo lost? What exactly did he tweet? Wait, I'll just look, I'm following him already." She took out her phone excitedly.

"You can't just look, we deleted it and Tom wrote a new one for him it was so bad." Shinra sighed. Shizuo growled, irritated.

"I was drunk! It's not my fault!"

"Whether or not it was your fault, you're singing a love song with Izaya! It's meant to be!" With that Erika skipped out the room, Shizuo's brown eyes staring her down angrily. If looks could kill, Erika would be so dead she'd be fossilised.

"Well, Shizuo... You can't exactly deny what she said-"

"SHINRA, DO YOU WANT TO BE BRUTALLY MURDERED?! NO? THEN SHUT YOUR MOUTH!" Shizuo shouted angrily, stomping out of the apartment.

"Celty, you can come out now!"

[Phew. Those two are finally gone!] Celty typed on her PDA. She was mute.

"I'm surprised Shizuo agreed to the bet in the first place... Maybe he is interested in Izaya?" Shinra pondered, only to get the PDA shoved in his face.

[NO WAY!]

"But you can't deny, there's a chance..."


	3. Chapter 2: Brainstorming

2: Brainstorming

(N/A: Shinra's struggle is that of all Shizaya fanfic writers everywhere.)

"I just can't get it right!" Shinra cried, throwing another crumpled piece of music paper into the already-full bin.

[You can! Don't give up!] Celty patted him on the back.

"I just have no idea what kind of things Izaya and Shizuo would say to each other if they were in love... Celty, they'd be a hopeless couple!" He paused to think about it. "Well, actually, they'd be an incredible couple! High above us! But I have no idea how to write that!"

[Shinra, why don't you go out for a walk? It'll clear your mind a bit.]

"That's a good idea, Celty. Thanks." He got up. "I'll only be ten minutes."

He didn't feel the need to put on his coat since it was mid-summer. He was wearing a short-sleeved grey top and dark grey trousers. He walked down all the stairs because the elevator was out of order, and took the long way round Ikebukero.

He was walking past the large fountain in the centre when he saw two figures whispering on the bench on the other side. One of them had a dark green top with pastel yellow short-shorts and the other had a pastel yellow top with dark green short-shorts. Then Shinra had the realisation that they were-

The fountain suddenly flared up, blocking his view of the figures. He sighed and waited for the pastel-pinky-white froth to dissipate and looked across once again.

They were gone.

Shinra turned his head inquisitively like a dog would. Where did they go? He was certain he'd seen them there just a second before. He walked around the fountain to look for them.

He stood right next to where they'd sat. He looked around to where they could've gone and saw nothing, so Shinra sat down on the bench in defeat. Not much he could do now.

Suddenly he felt arms wrap around his head and hands covering his mouth and eyes before he was pulled into the bushes.

The hands went off and he let out deep breaths, looking up, already quite confident that he knew who it was.

"Shinra! What are you writing in the love song Iza-nii has to sing with Shizuo-kun? Tell us!" Mairu said demandingly, pulling her glasses down to add suspense. She was the one in the pastel yellow top. Shinra hadn't noticed earlier, since he was far away, but there were cat faces on her shoulders.(n/a: you get what I mean. They have hoodies like this in the anime.)

"Well, truthfully... I'm not sure. I can't think of anything to right, I was just on a walk to fresh my mind." Shinra smiled nervously and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Fangirls, opinions romantic." Kururi offered. She said little, but basically it was 'Ask fangirls, they have opinions on romantic things.'

"Kururi, you're a genius! Thank you so much!" With one leap, Shinra was out of the bush and racing home to make a call.

...

"Welcome to TalkJapan! I'm Aira Takumi, your host! And today, our first story: Shinra Kishitani, the songwriter and line distributer for the legendary Izaya Orihara and Shizuo Hewajima's covers, is here today for an interview and to answer all your questions, but he also has a statement later on! Welcome to the studio, Kishitani-san!"

"It's great of you to have me, Takumi-san! Thank you for letting me come in today." Shinra smiled sweetly at her.

"It was a pleasure. Starting off today is our interview but first- anyone watching this live, send your questions for Kishitani-san in through our Twitter and Facebook pages, and also text us at..." She went on with the ways to send in questions. "Some of your questions will be read out at the end of the half hour Kishitani-san is staying, so stay tuned for that! But back to it."

She turned to Shinra now and asked, "Starting off, is it true that right now you are writing an original song for Orihara-kun and Hewajima-kun to sing that is about LOVE?"

"Yes... That is true." Shinra said nervously. "And yes, it is going to be about love. And they will sing it to each other..."

"But they hate each other! How could this come to be?" Aira asked incredulously.

"Well, Shizuo lost a bet." Shinra said, gaining confidence. "It was rather foolish of him to agree to it in the first place, though!" He chuckled.

"What did he bet on?"

"Well, Shizuo and Izaya bet on which of them would get the most retweets on Twitter. Needless to say, Shizuo lost."

"What would Shizuo have gotten, had he won?"

"He would've gotten the same as Izaya- I would have to write a song about a subject of his choice, and he could chose which lines Izaya got."

"So Izaya chose for the song to be about love!"

"Well, yes... Uh," Shinra's confidence shrank a little, "He said something about seeing Shizuo's redaction when I gave him the lyrics."

"Does that mean the lyrics with be... Embarrassing?" Aira raised her eyebrows.

"Not really. It's just... When Shizuo- well, they'll probably kill me for saying this, but Shizuo doesn't get embarrassed often, and I think Izaya might think when he's embarrassed he's..." He murmured something quietly.

"What was that last thing?"

"Well, it's just a hunch, but I think Izaya thinks Shizuo's face when he's embarrassed is cute. I mean, since it happens so little we all usually laugh- at least until he punches us in the face-" he chuckled, " Since Shizuo always tries to look away when he blushes. It's pretty funny. I know I'm not alone in this, because my girlfriend thinks so too, just she's mute so he doesn't realise it."

"Your girlfriend? Tell us more!" Shinra smiled inwardly. Finally, they were on a different topic.

"Yeah. Her name's Celty Sturleson. She transports the lyrics and instrumental tracks to each of them when we do a cover."

"And you mentioned that she's mute?"

"Yeah. She uses a little PDA to talk to people, but I love her all the same." Shinra blushed fiercely. Aira chuckled.

"Well, Kishitani-san, I think that's all the time we have left for the interview. Onto the viewer questions!"

"Yay!" Shinra smiled.

"First off, this one from Tsuki-chan: In the recent Lights and Ghosts mash-up cover, how did you do it? We're there more people involved? I loved the vocaloid style of the video!"

"Well, in that video first I made the music for the songs separately. I gave them each a song- Izaya did Lights and Shizuo did Ghost- to cover on their own. Then we sent the music to our great friend Simon, a DJ at a Russian-run nightclub in Ikebukero. He mashed them up together.

Our two great editors Namie and Tom decided on vocaloid style- I'm glad you liked it, Tsuki-chan! Then our good friend Walker drew the artwork for it. He has a YouTube channel along with our other friend Erika, go subscribe to them! Lastly Namie and Tom edited in all together. "

"Next question, from Aoi-kun: How many musical instruments do you play? And how did you learn them?"

"I can play 8 instruments. Guitar, piano, drums, flute, clarinet, trombone, violin and cello. Any other instruments used in covers are played by my father, and from there I can answer the other question. My father is the reason I have such a passion in music. From a young age he taught me to play instruments. At the age of four I was halfway to mastering my first instrument, the flute.

In total he taught me four of those eight I know. They were in order of when I learned them: the flute; the guitar; the piano; and the drums. The others I went out of my way to find instruments he didn't know and learn. I hope this helps. Anyone interested in music should dive right in and learn an instrument, it's a skill that you rarely get and you can boast about when you're older! Wait, I'm meant to be adult-like... Uh...it's a skill which will help you later in life?" He chuckled.

"Haha! So, next question, this time from Niomi-chan: How did you and the rest of the team start? What influenced you to make duet covers?"

"Oo, that's one I don't normally get asked. How we started? Well, I should just go from the beginning then. My and Shizuo knew each other in elementary school, then me and Izaya met in middle school while Shizuo met Tom in a middle school on the other side of Ikebukero. Then we all went to the same high school, and they instantly took a dislike to each other.

I didn't realise their singing talents until I one day heard Izaya humming a song while we were doing our detention one day- Shizuo had wrecked the campus going after Izaya, and I was wrongly accused of being an accomplice... Hehe. Anyway, Izaya was humming one song in one room which we were cleaning- that's where we were doing, cleaning the mess we'd made.

And then I went into the other room, and Shizuo was singing the song with him, he just didn't realise! So I just sat in the doorway, tapping with my feet as they went from humming to singing. I didn't tell them until the next day. They were about to fight when Celty intervened.

A few weeks ago, I was looking at old photos, and saw a photo of that moment. At that time, Celty and I had moved in together, and we were skint for money, so we got Shizuo and Izaya to do it without them realising. Then we got Namie and Tom to edit it and put it on YT. When they saw they were angry we'd tricked them, but when they saw how popular it was, they shut up and went along with the flow. We set up a account and split the money evenly. We were so delighted that people appreciated our work.

And then we basically quit our full-time jobs and got part-time work instead so we had more time. Since then, we've gone to not having day jobs at all to do more covers more often. Usually we can complete a cover in a few days, when it used to take weeks, and because of people's donations, we're staying afloat. Thanks for that question, Niomi-chan, I haven't said all that in one go before, really... "

"Sadly we don't have time for any more questions!" Aira pouted, before smiling again, " But Kishitani-san has a thing to say, hmm?"

"Ah, yes! I have a small statement to make.

You see, I'm the one writing the love song, but I just can't write it. You may not understand, so let me explain. Me and Celty have our relationship, but if Izaya and Shizuo were to have a relationship, it would be on such a high level, one which I haven't experienced ever, so I don't entirely understand what they'd do. This is all hypothetical of course. But what I'm about to say isn't.

Because I'm having trouble writing the lyrics, I realised who better to understand such a relationship but the ones who listen to them every day- the fans! So I'm asking YOU. Send any suggestions to my email, shinrakishitani and I will hopefully I crude them in the song! Thank you all a lot in advance for your help!"

"With that, here ends the TalkJapan session. Thank you for coming, Kishitani-san! Goodbye, do come back on the show anytime!" The show ended.

(N/A: Seriously, people. I need suggestions for the song. Leave them in reviews and PMs. This will be open until the time when the fic is complete, as it will only be sung in the last chapter, so SEND IN SUGGESTIONS! Just not through Shinra's made-up email XD )


	4. Chapter 3: Fangirls Are Always Right

3: Fangirls Are Always Right

(N/A: Okay, so I have kind of decided upon Cooler Than Me to be the song, but I would love suggestions if any of you think of a more fitting song! I chose this because of an AMV on YouTube for Shizaya, go watch it! )

"Dad, stop playing the cornet! This song doesn't have brass in it!"

"But son, you can never understand the incredible powers of such a great instrument! It's calling for me, Shinra." Shingen Kishitani sighed, but put down the instrument which looked like a small trumpet.

"Dad, how come the only instrument you brought was brass when this song could mix with a whole load of other musical genres EXCEPTING BRASS. Seriously, I told you specifically. No brass instruments!"

"I thought you were joking!"

Shinra sighed. "And plus, why are you wearing a gas mask?!"

"It's not a gas mask. It's white. And plus, the air in Japan is disgusting!"

"You can't play an instrument like that!"

"So what?"

"That's the one reason I asked you to come!" Shinra sighed again and took the cornet from where Shingen had left it.

"Ah well, I can still play the electric guitar." Shingen grumbled.

"But the electric guitar only has a tiny segment!"

"Well then, what about the drums? I can do them."

"..." Shinra paused. He gave his father a hard look, but sighed and agreed, "Fine, you do the drums, it's probably the most used instrument except for the keyboard."

"Yay!"

"But you're the one buying me sushi when this is over!"

"Of corse Shinra, of course."

...

Celty was on a mission. It wasn't a very hard one, and it wasn't at all needed, but she wanted to do it for Shinra. She knew he wasn't sure the lyrics he'd written were good, even after taking a lot of the suggestions from people over the Internet.

She was speeding on her motorbike, yeah, but what can you do? No cops around. Celty skidded to a halt when she saw just what she was looking for. It was a large van parked outside Russia DJ Dance Club and she knew exactly who it belonged to.

She left her bike parked outside and ventured into the dance club. The first thing she was greeted with was Simon.

"Dance! Dancing good, dancing relieves stress! Dance make you happy!" Simon was calling out so loud that passersby outside could probably hear him from miles off. He paused when he saw Celty, but quickly resumed his calls, presumably deciding to ignore her presence for the time being.

Celty scanned the room. Where's a fangirl hardcore yaoi-shipping otaku when you need one? She walked round to the dance floor, and what she saw made her think 'oh god...'

On one side of the dance floor was Togusa, Dotachin Walker and Erika. On the other side was Kida, Mikado, a very nervous-looking Anri, and Aoba. The music stopped- Vorona was sitting in the DJ's area with a bored expression on her face, what watching all hell break loose.

Celty wasn't prepared for what they were arguing over.

"You call yourselves otakus?!" Kida cried, "You have worse taste in anime than my MOM! You can't appreciate the wonders of Harem anime!"

"We're not hating on Harem anime! Can't you see School Days was a pile of sh*t?!" Walker shouted angrily.

"Come on Walker, calm down. It's just anime." Dotachin tried.

"'Just anime'?! Kyouhei, this is the most important thing you can argue about!" Aoba retaliated fiercely. Kida looked surprised- he wasn't exactly buddy-buddy with Aoba, yet here he was arguing along with him.

"Yeah Dotachin, do you not see how immensely anime morphs the entirety of Japanese culture?! Anime is what the outside world sees when they think of Japan, and such a horrid creation as School Days is ruining anime for everyone!" Erika argued.

"No it's not! You just don't relate to the main character because he's a boy so your biased!" Kida defended.

"Masaomi we should really calm down..." Mikado said in a weak voice. Kida ignored him.

"It's hopeless, Mikado." Anri sighed.

"You know what's hopeless? The fact that we're arguing about anime in here when anyone could be wrecking my van out there!" Togusa cried, pointing to the door.

"WE DONT CARE ABOUT YOUR VAN!" Aoba, Kida, Walker and Erika shouted in unison, making Togusa angry.

"You don't care, hmm? You want to walk home, then?"

"Togusa, they didn't mean it. You can check on the van, ok? You don't have to be here." Dotachin sighed. Togusa shot him a glare but walked out all the same.

"..."

Everyone was quiet for a second. Celty took this moment to interfere. She walked in the middle and pushed them away, the music started up again, and Erika looked a bit deflated.

"What do you want, Celty? It's been a while." Dotachin asked as they made their way to a quieter corner of the room.

[Shinra's done the lyrics for the song. I wanted Erika to check them over, she's a kind of expert on shipping and romance.] Celty thought for a moment. [At least, in anime and manga.]

"Awesome! Erika, you're a proofreader!" Walker grinned, all earlier venom in his voice lost.

[Here you go. You only need to have a quick look if you're late for something.] Celty typed, passing over two pieces of paper paper flipped together.

Erika looked them over. Her eyes widened at the first verse, before grinning as she turned the page to look at the second half of the song. Her eyes looked like anime stars and she did a classic fist-bump in the air when she was done.

"Perfect! Absolutely perfect! It portrays their absolute competition, but also their secrecy love and how they feel the same for each other but they can't think of a way to confess their love! And I love how the parts are divided, ten out of ten!" Erika made extravagant gestures in each sentence to let her exit emery come across.

"Tell Shinra it's fangirl approved!" She finished, giving Celty a thumbs up with one hand and returning the paper with the other.

[Thank you! Shinra will appreciate it.]

"And just imagine all the views I'll get on YouTube when I tell them I've seen the lyrics first! I won't leak them of course, but I'll get views all the same, especially since Shinra promoted my channel on TalkJapan! Thank him for that, will you?"

[I will. Well, I have to go, so have a nice time!] Celty went back out, a grin on her face, and raced back to Shinra with the good news.

(N/A: I'm sorry it's a bit short, I just wanted to get this out there quick. Btw, Celty has a head. It looks like it is in the anime, if that helps you picture her. She's just mute.

Also, anyone who read the last chapter before I updated it, I'm sorry I got Mairu and Kururi the wrong way round! It's fixed now. Thanks to DrowningInTheHourglass for notifying me! I know it doesn't seem like I considered your suggestions but I wrote this before I read the reviews and I'm too lazy to edit it at the moment.. Sorry. But the song is NOT fixed! If I get suggested a song which I think fits better than Cooler Than Me, I'll edit the story around it.

~Indi 3)


	5. NOTE: A New Cover! (Not a chapter!)

This isn't a new chapter! This is just a note to tell you about the new cover! I drew it myself, the body is a bit out of proportion with Shizuo's head, but meh, what can you do? Anyway, my profile picture is drawn by me too. It used to be an OC who was Shinra's adopted sister, Izaya's actual sister, super op, and Shizuo's girlfriend. But then I realised what a Mary Sue she was and deleted the story about her I was writing. Now she's just my mascot, because her design was too adorable to waste! In Japanese her name is actually Hisui, by the way. XD I feel like such a weeb right now.

~Indigo


	6. Chapter 4: Awkwardness

4: Awkwardness

(N/A: Thank you all for your lovely reviews, they really push me to write! I just reallised that I do n/a instead of a/n but ah well, I'm weird and I won't stop. On with the chapter!)

"Shizuo, I gotta say... Why don't you sing it... Well, like you actually love him-"

"Tom, I don't!" Shizuo growled angrily, putting the microphone down. He was in the recording booth at the local studio, which they were renting for the hour to get better audio.

"Shizuo, calm down man. I get it. You can't fake something that's the opposite... But why don't you pretend he's someone else? Like... Vorona?" Tom said, smiling nervously.

"No! No! You can't do that!" Shinra chimed from over Skype, "The song represents the way that he both hates and loves him! Shizuo doesn't hate Vorona!"

"Well, Shinra, there isn't really much we can do." Tom sighed, rubbing his temples. He looked up at Shizuo. "I'm sorry you have to go through this, Shizuo."

Shizuo just grunted in agreement.

"We should Skype Namie and see if I she's having the same problems." Shinra put forward.

"Alright, yeah, good idea." Tom smiled and fiddled about on the laptop. He clicked Namie's name in his Skype contacts and it started to call. There was a click sound, showing that she'd picked up.

"What do you want, Tom? And why are we in a group call with Shinra?" Namie asked sourly.

"Well, Shizuo's having a ...hard time getting, well, emotion into his singing, and we were wondering if... Maybe Izaya's having the same... Uh... problem?" Shinra said, choosing his words carefully.

"Well, not exactly. The $$-hole keeps bursting out laughing and acting all smug each time he goes to sing! I want to kill him!"

"Sounds like something the flea would do..." Shizuo muttered and came out of the recording booth, "If he isn't trying to get it right I see no reason why I should have to. I'm off."

"Wait, Shizuo! I have an idea!" Shinra's voice called through the laptop, making Shizuo stop in his tracks.

"What is it?" Namie asked boredly.

"Well, maybe if Izaya got to know Shizuo better he might have a more... Serious attitude?" It sounded more like a question than a statement.

"I'm not staying near that louse more than two seconds! No way!" Shizuo cried angrily.

"Ah, but Shizu-chan, you lost the bet, ne~?" Izaya's voice sounded in the background on Namie's Skype.

"Izaya, I swear I'll kill you!" Shizuo stomped toward the computer.

"Calm down, Shizuo, c'mon man..." Tom said nervously, trying to calm him down.

"Stomping is a childish thing to do, Shizu-chan!" Izaya appeared in the picture, shoving a thoroughly protesting Namie out of the way and taking her laptop.

"Izaya, I don't think Shizuo is that childish. If anyone, it's you, shoving someone out of the way." Tom composed himself. Izaya frowned slightly, but then he was smirking again.

"Ha! Whatever you say, Tom-san~ But Shizu-chan still has to go along with the bet. And if he isn't singing it right, that's bad!" Shizuo growled.

"As much as I disagree with Izaya's... attitude... There is some truth in his words- Shizuo, don't look at me like that!" Shinra cried when Shizuo shot him a sharp glare. Izaya just laughed.

"Shinra..."

"Well, maybe it would help you both to.. Live with each other? I-I mean, just for a few days! And-" Even Izaya had frozen in horror at the idea.

"Shinra, you had better be glad you're speaking to me through the Internet, otherwise you would be BRUTALLY MURDERED!" Shizuo shouted, loud enough for the passerbys to hear.

"Now Shizuo, his idea may not be so bad, y'know..." Tom tried, earning a sharp glare, but he continued, "And it's only for a few days. Plus, do you want to be filed for threatening murder or assault or something?"

"Fine, Tom. It's just a few days right? Until the flea knows how to take things seriously."

"It's not just me, you protozoan!" Izaya grinned, laughing.

"Shut it! Do you want me to go all the way out to Shinjuku and beat me up to place my point?!"

"Well, you're coming out here anyway. No way I'm going to your tiny apartment." Izaya huffed.

"My previous statement still stands!"

"What large words for a brute, hmm~?"

"Shut up, flea!"

...

Shizuo didn't have much stuff with him. It was just one bag, because it was less than one week. That was the way he packed. But when he entered Izaya's apartment/office he was taken aback at all the space.

There were two couches in the middle of the room, one which Namie was sitting on while fiddling on her laptop. Meanwhile, there were a few plant pots in the corners, as the sunset light flowed in through the giant window-wall. But then lastly Shizuo saw Izaya himself, focused on his laptop, sitting at his desk.

"Uh... Hello?! Are you gonna even acknowledge my presence at all?!" Shizuo said angrily, after waiting a few moments.

"Oh hello, Shizu-chan~ I forgot you were coming." Izaya looked up, "Namie, go make us some coffee."

"Douchebag..." Namie mumbled asunder breath as she put her laptop down and walked out, before pausing and returning, "I assume Shizuo wants his coffee loaded with tooth-rotting sugar?"

"Yes." Shizuo growled, his eyebrow twitching.

"Shizu-chan, you're such a child. Sweets are only this kids eat, hmm~?"

"Izaya, I'm seriously wondering whether or not I should just smash your face into the wall." Shizuo bit out.

"I don't think you'd be able to catch me first! Hehe. Now sit down Shizu-chan, I'm busy..."

...

Awkward.

That's the one word Shizuo thought was the one word to describe his current situation in a nutshell, as he lay back, staring at the ceiling, the back of his head resting in his hands as the moonlight filtered through the small gaps in the curtains later that night.

Thinking about it, Shizuo knew he could've possibly disarmed the situation before it got to this point had he swallowed his pride and given Izaya the bed. But ah well, he'd done the same thing before each time Izaya escaped one of their chases back in high school, and ever since he'd started, the taste of it just got more sour each time.

It was probably Izaya's fault, he decided. Yes, the flea deserved the blame for something for once. If he just wasn't so stubborn, he might've had a much less brain-numbing situation at hand. But the best bit? The raven himself was snoring at his side, so he couldn't protest to taking the blame, at least not for eight more hours.

It wasn't really 'blame' for anything except the awkward air that was suffocating Shizuo from the inside out as he stole a glance at his duet partner and arch nemesis. Yeah, Izaya's fault, he thought, as he remembered the events that had lead up to this silent night in which Shizuo probably wasn't getting much sleep.

He had just gotten changed into his night clothes- a grey thin-fabric t-shirt because Shizuo k ew how hot he got in bed, and a pair of blue loose trousers. He walked into the bathroom to brush his teeth. As he reached for his brush, he noted that Izaya's toothbrush was already missing, but he ignored it and got the toothpaste.

Only once he was brushing did he remember what the toothbrush being missing meant- Izaya was somewhere in the apartment, brushing his teeth and wandering around.

Speak of the devil, he saw in the reflection of the bathroom mirror as the flea himself ambled into the bathroom, visibly shivering.

"If you're cold, why are you wearing that?" He asked absent-mindedly, finishing brushing and looking Izaya up and down.

The raven was wearing a long-sleeved dark-grey t-shirt that was so loose it hid his hands except for the tips of his fingers, and it was nearly falling off one shoulder. He had on a pair of blue boxers and Shizuo felt blood rushing to his face when he looked at Izaya's bare legs. He quickly turned away and reached for the mouthwash, thankful the flea was too cold and too concentrated on brushing his teeth to notice Shizuo blushing.

"It's nothing you need to worry about, Shizu-chan~" Izaya had finished brushing and Shizuo was finished with the mouthwash. Izaya smirked at him and Shizuo frowned, irritated.

"Well I'm tired, hurry up." Shizuo waited until Izaya had used the mouthwash and they began to head towards Izay's bedroom. Shizuo opened the door and stopped dead.

"What is it, Shizu-chan~? Scared of the dark?"

"No. Look." Shizuo let Izaya look. "There's only one bed-"

"My apartment, you're on the couch. Go." Izaya cut him off in a 'no questions asked' way.

"No, I'm the guest, I get the bed."

"Don't be stupid you protozoan, this is my bed, get out."

"Flea, I'm not gonna tell you twice-"

"I'm not leaving!" Izaya cried, leaping on the bed and snatching the covers. Shizuo wondered how on earth Namie coped with such a childish boss.

"Oh no you don't, flea!" Shizuo leaped on the bed as well, taking the covers away.

"Well, you can't get me to budge. Whatever you try." Izaya snatched back the covers.

"You will move if you freeze!" Shizuo pulled the duvet back. Izaya turned over and gave him a glare. The raven was curled up in a fetal position and obviously shivering.

"Give. That. Back!" Izaya shouted a great battle cry and took the duvet, wrapping it around himself. Shizuo just stared at him. He sighed.

Shizuo looked back up to the ceiling, admiring the paintwork. He was lost in thought for many minutes as he looked back at Izaya, who was looking at him, one red eye open in curiosity.

The raven-haired singer was still shivering slightly. His hair was messy. The duvet only covered Izaya's upper half, and Shizuo could still see his pale slender legs curled around his boxers. Looking up, Shizuo directed his gaze to Izaya's collarbones and his neck. The moonlight was falling only him in such a way that he could see at of Izaya's muscles move each time he breathed. Izaya closed his eyes, satisfied that Shizuo would not try to take the covers back. In that moment... Izaya looked kinda cute.

No! Shizuo mentally slapped himself, reluctantly tearing his gaze from Izaya, berating himself for thinking silly thoughts like that. Knowing the raven, he was probably just wearing such loose and short clothing on purpose to seduce him. No way he was falling for one of those tricks.

Shizuo's attention was diverted when he heard a small sound to his side. He looked back at Izaya. Was the flea... Snoring? His eyes widened. He waited, thinking it too adorable to be true. Sure enough, a small sneeze-like sound came from Izaya a second later. Shizuo sighed and gazed back up at the ceiling in frustration.

Yeah, awkward. The perfect word, Shizuo thought, for this situation.

(N/A: Sorry for the late update! I hope to update again before new year. By the time this goes out, it'll be Christmas Day, so merry Christmas people! Sadly it's still summer in the world of our characters, so no Christmas special. Maybe next year. Yeah, right, this will definitely be long enough for that... That was sarcasm, by the way.

Anyway. To make up for it, just imagine Izaya and Shizuo singing All I Want For Christmas and it'll all be good. It is now your solemn duty to imagine them singing it next time you hear that song! Ah well.

This is a kinda super long note, but I have a lot to say. Every fix I read, I imagine Izaya wearing the outfit described in this chapter when he sleeps, it's just so cute! I think I might just draw him wearing it at some point, maybe. The reason he wears it even though he's cold will be explained in the next chapter. Btw, Shizuo like never gets cold and actually find it hot to wear a coat in winter like me, but Izaya is the complete opposite, which is why he always wears his fluffy coat, even in the summer. Just my headcanon, though.

Anyone else imagining Izaya and Shizuo singing every love song you hear on the radio? I mean, I've imagined tons of possible stories, such as the one about Hello by Adele where like Izaya and Shizuo were together in high school, but at the end of it they broke up and Shizuo moved away, and then Shizuo's singing the song to Izaya. I think that would be adorable if it were a fic!

Lastly, thank you all for your reviews! I haven't been able to read some of the more recent ones, but I will when I post this. I really appreciate your support!

Merry Christmas!

~Indi


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